Ma Ning, a Chinese football referee, has drawn attention for making it to the World Cup, despite the Chinese team failing to qualify for the finals, reported East Week magazine, a sister publication of The Standard.
Originally a triple jumper, Ma pivoted to refereeing and was chosen to officiate on one of football's biggest stages. The role is demanding; referees must pass high-intensity running drills, demonstrate English proficiency, and undergo years of FIFA evaluation.
Ma, known as the "Card Master," made history by becoming the first Chinese match official to oversee an AFC Asian Cup final. Many wonder if Ma would officiate strictly, as he once issued nine yellow cards and three red cards in a single match. He once said in an interview, "Everything a player wants to do on the field is already in my playbook, so they can't fool me."
Unlike players whose World Cup performance can multiply their market value, referees receive only fixed pay. Yet, Ma leveraged his fame in the mainland to launch social media accounts, documenting his journey to the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and thereby secured multiple brand ambassador deals, resulting in considerable windfalls.
This year's World Cup is co-hosted by three nations for the first time, with 104 matches compared to the usual 64 matches, necessitating an increase in the number of head referees from 36 to 52. Ma will lead on the field with video assistant referee Fu Ming and assistant referee Zhou Fei.
The three made their first stop in Miami late last month for eight days of fitness tests and officiating simulations. At a press conference, Ma declared, "I will do my utmost to showcase the professionalism of Chinese referees on the World Cup stage."
Born in Liaoning, China, Ma studied physical education at Shenyang Sport University. His college football buddy, Guo Dajun, noted his exceptional jumping ability. Ma later joined the Chinese Football Association's referee program and became a FIFA referee six years later.
Selected as a fourth official for the Qatar World Cup 2022, he publicly apologized to Chinese fans for not securing the head referee role.
Chinese referees once suffered a severe setback when Lu Jun, a former football referee and the first one from China to appear at the World Cup, was jailed for bribery, damaging the international image of Chinese football referees. For more than two decades since then, no Chinese referee has stood at the center of a World Cup pitch. Ma now stands to change that.
